Erik is a baseball fan who has been attending baseball games and snagging baseballs regularly since 2008.

6-23-09 PNC Park

I got to the gates about four minutes late today. When I got inside, I was discouraged to see that the final group that was batting for the Pirates was all left handed batters (Delwyn Young is a switch hitter).

I stood in left field and waited and waited for a ball to come out that way. Finally, near the end of the Pirates portion of batting practice, Delwyn Young turned around and batted right handed. He hit a home run two sections to my right that I simply had to jog over to and pick up. It was ball #1.

The Indians came out to hit. Their first group was also all lefties. Very discouraging. I could’ve had another ball, but the rubber band was missing from my glove. It must’ve gotten lost on Sunday when I went with my dad to play baseball. I also received a substantial injury on Sunday. I was going after a fly ball in left field, when I stepped into a huge swamp area left over by the torrential rains from this past Wednesday. I skidded on my right foot for about six feet, then fell backward. I landed on my glove hand, but that gave way, causing my elbow to awkwardly bend backward. It’s been real sore ever since.

Anyway, the sun was blazingly bright today.I lost two balls in the sun. Completely lost them. When that happens, I look at other people around me, to see if they’re tracking the ball, so I can pick it back up. The folks around me couldn’t see either. STATISTICS:Game: 2 balls (2 hit)Season: 200 balls (100 hit, 72 thrown, 28 device)Games: 39 games (5 of which didn’t have BP)Average: 5.13 balls per gameCareer: 366 ballsAttendance: 19,109

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